The Sacrifice Play
by mtfrosty
Summary: Steve and Tony end up on Vormir. The team needs the Soul Stone and Tony assures them that he can get it. It slowly begins to dawn on Steve why Tony brought him along. (based on an Endgame theory)


_This is based on an Endgame theory by reddit user CaptainCayden2077. Credit for the idea/plot goes to them. I just picked it up and played with it. Enjoy! (this may be a bit lengthy and Tony might be a bit OCC due to circumstances)_

* * *

"_How were you guys planning on beating that?"_

"_Together."_

_II_II_

Steve isn't sure why they're here. To begin with, it's not a pleasant place. Not that there are many places he would call 'pleasant' since Thanos had snapped his fingers, but this one seems to have added layers of dreariness. The shadows here have obviously taken up residence among the scraggled cliffs and broad valleys and seem content to stay. What light that the planet has comes through in mottled shades of purples, pinks, and grays in a heavily clouded sky.

He feels cold.

He's also felt uneasy since the moment he and Tony landed and he turns to survey the inventor now, wondering at the man's motives. Steve thinks he's come to understand this guy to a certain degree, but there is still an element of unpredictability that Stark brings wherever he goes. They'd been discussing ways to get the stones from Thanos with the rest of the group back on earth (yeah, they're also on a different _planet_, and Steve _doesn't like it_) and when the conversation had turned to the disheartening notion that their chances were extremely low for stealing any of them at all, Tony had immediately assured them that he could get the Soul Stone.

It's a bold claim and they'd been skeptical.

"_Trust me."_

Staring at the man now, Steve isn't sure that he does. Tony had been different since he'd returned to earth, and looking at him now, surrounded by shadows, pinkish gray light doing weird things to his features, Tony looks like a steely-eyed, half-crazed mad man. Then the man turns so that he's facing Steve squarely and quirks a brow at him, smirking. "Well? Whadya think of space, Cap? I could probably build you a vacation home here if you like. I think I can hear water somewhere, which means beaches, and you won't need sunscreen so that's a bonus…" He trails off, turns away and begins to amble up the mountainside.

Steve's uneasiness hits a record high and he swallows. Sure, the snark is standard issue Tony, but the undercurrent of desperation? It's never been this evident before. Never. "Tony."

Tony stops, sighs, and turns. "Can the lecture wait, Pops? Time is passing and we don't have all day. Or night. Or whatever this is." Here he makes a very Tony-like gesture at their surroundings. Then he smiles a little and points behind himself and up. "How 'bout a compromise… talk at the top?"

Steve drags his eyes from Tony and looks towards their destination. It looks like any other jagged peak aside from the two columns rising into the sky like two invincible guards blocking passage to who knows where. "Is that where the stone is?" he asks, flicking his eyes back to Tony.

"It's where it _will_ be."

"And you can get it?" This whole thing is _wrong._ Steve doesn't know why yet, but something is definitely off.

The small smile disappears and Tony sighs again as he turns away. He looks tired and his steps are heavy as he begins the hike once more. "I said I could, Steve, and I will."

"_Trust me."_

Steve falls silent, mind running through scenarios like mad. But he swallows hard and follows.

_II_II_

It takes too long for them to reach the top. Steve wouldn't have minded if it were anywhere else. Preferably somewhere with sunny skies, pine forests and squirrels occasionally scurrying across the path. But he'd even take a tough trek through the Himalayas over this. This tortured path of sharp rocks, treeless views, angry clouds and tortured thoughts. He hates it. He hates the fact that Tony _isn't talking_.

At least not beyond single-worded answers.

"_Tony, are you okay?"_

"_Nope."_

As tactlessly honest as ever (which is so very Tony), except without the scattered stream of verbal thinking that normally follows (which is so very _not_ Tony).

"_What aren't you telling me?"_

"_Lots."_

"_And you want me to trust you in this? When you won't explain a thing?"_

"_Yes."_

Then there had been a heavy, so-very-_wrong_ pause.

"_Please, Steve."_

Tony Stark _does not beg_, and it's enough to shut Steve up.

_II_II_

The two columns rise much higher than Steve had originally thought and they end up being just that: very impressive columns of stone. But they aren't guarding anything. That duty falls to a wraith-like being that slowly floats towards them on a cushion of air. It's shrouded in a ragged, wispy cloak that immediately inspires thoughts of the Grim Reaper.

Tony, standing at Steve's side, leans over and whispers, "He must be one of the Nine. Doesn't make sense, since we aren't carrying the Precious with us, but whatever. Guess he's lost too."

Steve doesn't understand any of his friend's gibberish, but he totally gets the last part, because wherever this is, they definitely shouldn't be here. They watch the being approach and when it stops a few yards away and lowers its hood, Steve can't _quite_ contain a flinch of surprise. This man, this _thing_, should be dead.

Schmidt, oddly enough, doesn't seem amused by Steve's surprise. Instead he tilts his head and narrows his eyes. "I thought you might show up at some point," the long-dead villain rasps before looking at Tony. "Mr. Stark."

Steve is again surprised and he turns to Tony, hoping for an explanation because how can these two _possibly_ know each other? But there is no recognition in Tony's eyes. Just resignation and a _lack of_ surprise.

"Huh," Tony grunts, almost to himself. "You know me too. Weird." He sighs for perhaps the millionth time since they'd arrived and flicks a few fingers at Steve. "Give Father Time here the lowdown while I… stand over here."

'Over here' turns out to be a steady walk through the columns that ends at the edge of a cliff. Steve watches him during the entirety of his determined trudge and he only blinks when Tony stops. It really only makes sense that someone so obviously unhinged would come to stand at the top of a tall drop. Steve has seen it before, but he is still guessing at the man's motives.

Tony isn't suicidal.

"You seek the Stone."

Schmidt is wheezing at him again so he yanks his gaze away from Tony. "_We_ seek the stone."

Finally, his one-time nemesis smiles. It is the smile of a teacher bestowing knowledge on a student that should know better. Steve hates it, because it implies that he is right to be uneasy. That he is right about the fact that something is so very wrong.

"No. You seek the Stone. _He_ is here for something different."

His head hurts. Strike that. Everything hurts. They should never have come here. Forget the Soul Stone; they can go after the others first. Surely they can find a way to get the Time Stone, or even the Space Stone. One of the ones that doesn't mess with things they shouldn't be messing with.

Like souls and minds.

Steve can't tear his gaze from the smiling, _knowing_ man that stands – floats – in front of him. "What is he after?" he whispers.

"The Stone demands a sacrifice."

The thought had been lingering in his head for a while, that one of them might die here. He'd banked on it being him, and now he's certain of it. "Of what sort?"

"One whom you love."

Does Tony… love him? There are surely others the man loves more. Pepper, Rhodey, Bruce. They had all survived, so why did Tony pick him as company? Steve glances towards the cliff again and watches Tony stare out over the edge.

_I think I would just cut the wire._

Steve feels something cold settle in his gut. It isn't anger, necessarily. Disappointment? He'd thought Tony had become better than he'd been. Relegating Steve to just another tool in his ever-present quest to cut every wire that needed to be cut is something of a low blow. It's Ultron all over again. Unvarnished Stark pragmatism at its finest. Anything to get the stone, and it's disturbing that Tony is capable of mimicking Thanos.

Steve is willing, though. In spite of that. He's always been willing.

But he isn't even sure this will work. He isn't high enough on Tony's list of people he loves.

"_He is here for something different."_

Something still doesn't add up.

_II_II_

Vormir is a lonely place, which makes sense. People tend to think and question things when they're alone. Tony does that even in the company of others, but in regards to the normal human being (and other sentient beings), he can understand why the Soul Stone chose this place.

And it _did_ choose it (he's been researching, and reading, and asking _lots_ of questions of older, more learned beings than himself). Tony is certain of this. There is a sentience to these stones that doesn't make much logical sense, but he's given up on logic for the most part. It still applies, certainly, but not to the extent that it used to.

For example, inanimate objects don't think and make decisions. That used to be a logical truth. Cue the entrance of the Infinity Stones and suddenly his formerly impenetrable bucket of logic begins to not hold water as well as it used to.

But logic still applies at times, hence Steve's presence here.

Which makes Vormir less lonely, but lonely enough. If Tony were anyone else, he'd be overwhelmed by how much thinking this loneliness encourages. As it is, he's oddly grateful for the silence. It means he gets to stand here and stare at a planet that is as much beautiful as it is treacherous, because what is more treacherous than forcing another person to wake up and face reality?

And Tony _gets_ that. He's the type of person that _does _that to others. He feels oddly at home here (and he doesn't want to think about what that says about him). It bothers him a little bit that Thanos must have been here at one point too and that someone must have died (probably Gamora… he holds no ill will towards Flash Gordon). The Soul Stone is merciless in a sense. Coldly determined to _teach a lesson._

"_You can't be a friendly neighborhood Spider Man if there's no neighborhood."_

It's a lesson that hurts. The Soul Stone hadn't been Tony's teacher. No. It had taken a brave, soft-hearted kid to teach it and now?

Well, Tony will admit to being an unorthodox teacher, but his methods typically work, so why not?

The whispered, wheezing discussion (seriously, does the Ring-wraith have asthma?) finishes and he tears his eyes from the dark, purple-splotched horizon. He finally looks down, swallowing in spite of himself. But he has to smile. He _has_ to.

Tony Stark has fallen many, many times. Physically or figuratively, it doesn't matter. He is intimately familiar with the concept. This is the first time it's ever felt _right._

_II_II_

Steve walks up behind the man, teeth gritted and fingers clenching and unclenching. He doesn't mince words. "Did you know?" That one of us had to die? That it would be me, and that's why you've kept quiet?

Tony turns then and Steve catches a brief glimpse of a smile before it transforms into an ugly, ironic smirk. "Of course. Sometimes I don't tell you things, but we've been over this before, so let's not poor acid into old wounds, hm?"

"_Don't bull_shit_ me, Rogers. Did you know?"_

The cold, simmering broil in Steve's gut goes flat for a moment and he winces, looks away. "Point," he mutters. When he looks back, Tony has lost the smirk and is staring down over the edge again.

"It's a long drop. Long enough for it to be instantaneous, don't you think?"

"Is that supposed to make it better?"

"You're upset. I get it. But someone has to do it and what you're _not _getting is that –"

Steve shakes his head. "I'm not upset that I'm about to die, Tony. I should have been dead a long time ago, many times over. It just disappoints me that you didn't think I'd agree to do it if you told me before we left."

Tony's brows are raised when he breaks from his study of the long fall Steve is about to make. "That I didn't think _you_ would agree? What if I'd asked Natasha? Or Clint? Or Bruce, or Thor, or heck even Scott? Don't kid yourself, Spangles. I don't doubt that _all_ of you would have agreed had I asked. That's an easy yes."

Steve mirrors his expression. "Easy?"

"For us? Yes. I think we all made that decision a long time ago. No, Cap, I chose _you_ for a different reason." He pauses, looking away. But not down. "I was hoping you could make a difficult decision… and I didn't tell you, because frankly I'm not sure any of you would have trusted _me_ to say 'yes' to the first question."

"_Trust me."_

Steve's blood runs cold and all he can do is stare.

Tony's smile is back. It doesn't belong on Stark's face, because he's never worn it before in Steve's presence. On any other planet, it would be out of place, but here in this moment it seems to fit. It's sad and gentle and understanding and… old. Tired. Weary. Steve's mouth is suddenly dry, but he manages to force some words out. "You can't possibly…" He can't finish.

Tony actually chuckles a little. "You're a riot Steve. Hey let me ask you something, and since these are sort of my last moments, you're obligated from the moral center of _you_ to answer." Tony smirks when Steve smiles a little. "How old are you?"

Suddenly Steve goes from stunned sorrow to confusion. "Um… what?"

"How old are you? You know, what's your age? You must remember. I know memory loss comes with old age and all, but really."

Tony is back to his rambling self (somehow, impossibly) and despite the situation, Steve feels himself relaxing. "Why's that so important to you?"

Tony rolls his eyes and glares, gesturing impatiently. "I'm trying to make a _point_. If you'll let me."

Steve tries on a smirk of his own, but he thinks it falls flat. "Fine. Father Time is somewhat accurate. I'm over a hundred."

"Bullcrap."

Steve frowns. "Look, I'm not as good at math as you are, but I can manage addition."

Tony wags a finger at him. "If you've been caught lying, don't continue. It's poor form."

Steve swallows, understanding what the man wants. He supposes these circumstances are as good as any will ever be to verbally answer a question he's never felt comfortable enough to answer. "Technically, I _am_ over a hundred… but I'm thirty-two if you subtract the seventy. Thirty-two."

The inventor doesn't seem stunned by this. He merely nods. "Thank you. My _point_, Steve, is that you've been a soldier for too long and that's all you think there is for you. You're too young to be thinking that way. It's depressing and it's inaccurate, so stop."

"But –" He stops when Tony's eyes lose their touch of humor and grow serious.

"Shut up and listen. The plan was always for me to make the drop and that's not going to change. _Your_ responsibility in this is four-fold. First," here Tony holds up a finger, "you push me. Second, you take care of Pepper for me. Or pass the responsibility to Rhodey. One of the two. I'm pretty sure she's hiding something big from me –" Tony breaks off, breath hitching. After a long second, he takes a breath and continues. "So just… keep her alive and make sure she's able to move past this. Move on. That sort of thing. Third, you keep being you. Don't let this change you. It'll hurt. We both know that, but you're strong and you'll be okay. Fourth…" The pause is intentional this time and Steve swallows down the lump that's rising in his throat. Tony smile-smirks at him and claps a hand on his shoulder. "You find a way to make a home for yourself and _live._ Somewhere other than an Avengers base or a government facility. Those are too stiff. Try something new. You'll think of something"

"_Isn't that the why we fight, so we get to go home?"_

Steve shrugs out of Tony's grasp and turns his back towards him, moving away in the hopes that he can just remove himself from this situation entirely. It's awful and their positions should be reversed. This is _his_ responsibility. Not taking care of Pepper (though _of course_ he would), not finding a home somewhere (he wouldn't know where to look), and not _pushing his friend off of a cliff_. "No," he mutters. Then louder. "No. Tony, I won't do it." He turns around and glares. "I can't just kill you. Not even for this."

Tony crosses his arms. "Yes you can and you will. Don't make me actually break this down. You know I'll do it."

Steve walks to the edge of the cliff and peeks over, gut churning in response. It's a long, dark, dismal drop. "What if I throw myself over?"

"Nope. First off, that's not how it works. Second: you love others more than yourself."

Steve blinks.

"Starting to understand? I didn't think my sappy speech would work, but that's okay. I'm still fully capable of going with the cold, hard facts. Look at me, 'cause I'm only doing this once."

Steve looks and he hates himself for it. Hates that he's going to listen and that he's already begun to be convinced.

"One life is _not _more important than billions or trillions and we need this stone. Of the six, I'm convinced that this one is the most important, so we're not leaving here until one of us gives the other a shove in the back. Of the two of us here, I'm the one that has to die. No offense, but you're not the person I love the most. Not even sure that's a stipulation, actually, but I'm also not sure that I love you all that much. Like? I worked myself up to that. Love is pushing it." Steve has to snort. "You on the other hand? You're too good for your own good. You love everyone you meet, because you love people. Period. No matter how many faults they have, as long as they're one of the good guys, you'd die for them." Tony smiles at this. "I admire you for that, you know. It used to grate on me, but that's a cool thing you have there. Which is why I brought you here. Of the people in that room, you're the _only one_ who likes me enough to love me. Just because I'm a person."

Steve hates that the man is right. He lets out a short, shuddery breath. "Fine. Let's do this before I can't." While his legs can still move and his muscles still have the strength to push the man forward. "I'll never forgive you for this."

They trade places. Tony is staring into the distance again, refusing to look down. "I'll be dead, so you shouldn't worry about that. If it means anything, though… I can forgive you for this. I think I can even forgive you for the whole Bucky thing. Maybe. Not sure yet. Let's raincheck that one."

"Stop talking, Tony." _Please._

Tony laughs. "Can't. Sorry. If you push me, I'll stop."

Steve sucks in a breath, grabs Tony and gives him a harsh yank, turning him around. _"Stop. It."_

Tony tilts his head. There's gray there, down by the ears. Not much, but Steve is only just noticing it for the first time. Faded scars on his face. More wrinkles and sun-lines than he would have expected. Tony doesn't smile. "You have to live, Steve. They'll follow you. All of them. I've done my part, done what I could. Harley can handle the suit just fine, Shuri's almost finished with the gauntlet, there's a semi-solid plan in place for when we start getting these stones and this one's a biggie… lead them, Steve. Make them believe this will work."

"_Call it, Cap."_

"It's time for me to make this stick."

"_Save the rest for the turn, J."_

Steve slowly nods. "Okay…" he trails off. Takes a breath. Nods again. "Okay." Then he gives Tony a wry smile. "I promise I'll try."

The head tilts again and dark brows shoot up. "To lead them?"

"To live."

"Oh." Tony nods in return. "Good. Now get on with it before we both get cold feet."

"Not a chance," Steve murmurs (and there isn't, because Tony had known _exactly _what he'd been doing). He places a hand on his friend's chest, feels the nanotech humming softly, and closes his eyes.

"It'll be okay, kid."

_Capsicle. Spangles. Father Time. Pops. Cap. Steve. Kid._

Steve opens his eyes, stares at Tony's tired, resigned, _proud_ expression, and pushes.

_II_II_

"_We'll lose."_

"_Then we'll do that together too."_


End file.
